In today's communication scenarios, heterogeneous networks and diverse protocols and interfaces are used for a single session of a particular user. In fact, new protocols, such as, Multipath Transmission Control Protocol (MPTCP), extensions to existing protocols, new interfaces and associated protocols are being continuously defined and evolved. Protocol-agnostic forwarding techniques are also being used, which facilitate transfer of packets without knowledge of the underlying protocols and their functions. In such a rapidly evolving communication infrastructure, increasing volume of users, user-traffic, and number of communication channels, for Lawful Interception (LI) to be effective, directed and appropriate LI tracking that is based on specific intent of the Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) is required.
In conventional LI techniques, all communications related to an LI target are intercepted and transmitted to the LEA, irrespective of whether such communication is relevant or not to the LEA for current investigation about an LI target. Thus, the LEA may receive large volumes of irrelevant data for an LI target. Significant time, effort, and resources are required for both transmitting this data as well as processing it to extract relevant information. As a result, significant delays may be caused that may hamper investigations. The problem is exacerbated in case of investigations that require (near) real-time gathering and extracting of relevant information, in order for the LEA to take appropriate actions in a timely manner. Additionally, with some of the new protocols, it is time consuming and error-prone for the LI to determine in real-time whether a particular content is associated with the LI target user or not (source or destination).
Conventional techniques thus fail to provide a mechanism of performing LI based on LEA specified intent for each LI session. These techniques also fail to ensure sending of relevant information to LEA in real-time basis for effective LI.